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MANILA, Philippines – Despite battling a bout of homesickness, Filipino group 4th Impact knocked it out of the park with a cover of Christina Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man” for their 4th live performance on X-Factor UK, Saturday, November 21 (November 22 in Manila).

The ladies performed the song in line with this week’s theme of “Love and Heartbreak.”

Simon Cowell said their performance was “brilliant, professional, sassy,” but had one quibble:

“Here’s my only thing which I would be doing now if I was only your mentor. You have to bring out your individual personalities much more now. At the moment, it’s so tight, the 4 of you, I kind of want to get to know you as individuals. And I don’t think quite you’ve been given the song yet to get that over,” he said, adding that he still loves the group.

“But I really like you,” he continued, stressing that fans must get to know them individually. “Apart from that, thought it was great.”

Rita Ora meanwhile said: “I thought it was tight, it was professional, it was rehearsed…I liked it.”

Nick Grimshaw called it “proper entertainment from beginning to end.”

Their mentor Cheryl Fernandez-Versini also praised the performance.

““Honestly, that wasn’t rehearsed. We had really tough week. They only got it yesterday. And I think because they are so professional and they are so tight always, sometimes it’s really easy to overlook the fact that they’ve come from halfway across the world, they are all the way from the Philippines, they are missing home…I have so much respect for you girls,” she said.

Before the performance, a clip showing the ladies’ call with their family back home in the Philippines was aired. “We’re doing this for our family to give them a better life. And I believe that this is the perfect time for us, 4th Impact,” they said.

Meanwhile, Mason Noise was eliminated from the competition. Another elimination is scheduled on Sunday, November 22 (Monday November 23, Manila). This leaves the show with 6 acts.

This post is in partnership with Entrepreneur. The article below was originally published at entrepreneur.com.

By Firas Kittaneh, Entrepreneur

To expand my knowledge and skills, I read. To source inspiration for innovative ideas and to develop a better understanding of the ever-changing world that we live in, I carefully absorb information from books. Over the years, I’ve read dozens of amazing works but for busy entrepreneurs, here are 12 leadership, marketing and technology books that I would highly recommend. As a whole, they offer valuable life guidance, contemporary approaches to work and unconventional world views that will motivate you to approach things in a new, refreshing way.

Shane Snow, co-founder of Contently and journalist for WIRED, The New Yorker and Fast Company, investigates the fast rise of successful individuals and companies to pinpoint the habits and strategies that led to their achievements. In doing so, he debunks the conventional wisdom of reaping success from hard work and instead promotes the use of ‘smartcuts’—smart shortcuts—to reach goals quickly.

2. “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell

Using real-life examples, sociologist Malcolm Gladwell examines the tipping point at which little known ideas turn into social epidemics. What he discovers are three major factors that converge to generate rapid, dramatic changes in society: people with unique and powerful social talents, the stickiness of ideas and contextual circumstances.

3. “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products” by Nir Eyal

Educator and entrepreneur Nir Eyal delivers the ‘Hook Model,’ a practical framework for fostering user engagement and building customer habits. This book is a must read for anyone looking to start a company or develop a product because it provides four actionable steps to attract users and to ensure that they continue to come back.

4. “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki

Drawing from his own personal experiences with his dad and a second father figure, businessman Robert Kiyosaki imparts his philosophy on money management. In particular, he advocates the idea that money should work for people and not the other way around, and offers practical guidance on investing in assets that generate income.

5. “Trust Me, I’m Lying” by Ryan Holiday

Media strategist Ryan Holiday reveals how people like him manipulate the media to meet their purposes. He does this by explaining how blogs drive mainstream news and effectively control what kinds of information are presented to the public. At the same time, he also provides useful tactics on how to run a marketing campaign on a budget.

6. “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferriss

If you are looking for a better work-life balance, lifestyle design expert Tim Ferriss shares a number of personal strategies to work less and live more while also increasing your wealth. His approach includes defining what you want in life, eliminating habits that waste time and outsourcing many tasks to virtual assistants. He also provides guidelines on how to generate a sustainable source of income.

7. “Freakanomics” by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner apply economic theory to uncover the fundamental causes and motivations for a diverse number of topics that are not typically studied in economics. Case studies include crime, parenting, cheating, and information control. What they find are results that counter established credence and paint a more complicated picture of reality.

Comparing 18 ‘visionary’ companies with their top competitors, business consultant Jim Collins and Stanford professor Jerry Porras reveal the characteristics that produce today’s leading corporations. Their research results also refute a number of commonly held business principles, including the notion that it takes a great idea to start a company. Instead, extraordinary companies are flexible and they experiment with new ideas to figure out what works.

10. “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains” by Nicholas Carr

Author Nicholas Carr explores how the Internet has stunted our intellectual development, specifically how the Internet does not lead to greater knowledge nor deeper thinking despite providing greater access to information. Drawing on historical and scientific evidence, he finds that the Internet encourages skimming, altering how we read and process information.

11. “How Google Works” by Eric Schmidt & Jonathan Rosenberg

This book discloses how the authors helped build Google GOOG -3.31% when they were recruited over a decade ago as CEO (Eric Schmidt) and Senior Vice President of Products (Jonathan Rosenberg). They take on many topics, including innovation, corporate culture and strategy. The lessons they learned along the way are pertinent to any business.

12. “The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story” by Michael Lewis

Writer Michael Lewis narrates the life of Jim Clark, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who launched three billion-dollar businesses. In doing so, the book provides insights into the process of turning an idea into a reality as well as a window into the people and culture of Silicon Valley.

i have lost count how many times i have watched this video, maybe more than a dozen times as of this writing and i feel i still can’ t get enough of it. this is one of the best reality singing contest TV show auditions i have seen.

what makes it even more special is that this is the audition of 4 pinays, mylene, aireen, elmira and celina, all sisters from the philippines who flew to London to join the X Factor UK auditions.

and boy, did these 4 pinays, have one hell of an audition!

the video shows the 4 judges of UK X Factor, Simon Cowell one of them together with the audience giving the 4 pinays, calling themselves the 4th Power, a huge standing ovation.

these were the comments of the judges:

“you took Wembley’s roof off”

“you’re so demure, the music kicks in and you all turned into little bad girls and it blew my mind”

“you’re like monsters, minute monsters. the passion, the voices and the attitude”

“this is gonna blow up all over the world”

“in terms of first auditions, this is probably one of the best I have ever seen”

“you’re sick”

“your are bad ass”

“the biggest 4 yeses we have ever given”

“this audition just changed your life”

there is an amusing bit in the interview in the end. Simon Cowell asked the girls why they chose to audition in the X Factor UK. one of the girls answered “to see you” (referring to Simon). Simon asked asked aside from him what other reasons do they have, the same girl answered “to see Queen Elizabeth”.

yes, i hope they win the X Factor UK and as part of their prize they get to meet the Queen.

after several days, 2 speeches and 12+ hours of one-on-one meetings with the families of the slaughtered SAF 44, the real definition of “justice for SAF44” gets through the thick (dense), (totally) stubborn and (very) confused head of president noynoy aquino.

we intently listened to Aquino’s 2 speeches, we even read each one twice, one the Filipino as delivered speech and the other the English translation and we noticed as early as the first speech he delivered to the country via national TV was Aquino did not call for the arrest and prosecution of the MILF and BIFF killers of the SAF 44. in that first speech, it was not even pussy footing about it, it was plainly not in his speech. that national TV speech was i think 2 or 3 days after the SAF 44 slaughter.

after that national TV speech, Aquino was on silent mode again. then we heard he will be delivering another speech, a eulogy at the wake at the PNP headquarters in Manila for the slain SAF 44. we were hoping it will be in his speech.

we were disappointed. yes, Aquino mentioned “justice”, he gave a strange and very wrong definition of “justice”. there he was facing the families of the slaughtered SAF 44 and the nation and he defined ‘justice for SAF 44″ as “we will catch Usman”.

so yesterday, Aquino finally got the true meaning of “justice for SAF 44”, the article at the PDI had this as the lead in on the article:

Finally, a tough stance from the Commander in Chief.

After being roundly criticized for not once coming out to condemn the Muslim rebels who massacred 44 police commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, last Sunday, President Benigno Aquino III has ordered Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to prepare criminal charges against those responsible for the carnage.

that was the first time Aquino talked about putting to justice the killers of the SAF 44. we think that miracle happened after Aquino had his 12+ hour one-on-one talk with the families of the SAF 44. in another article at the PDI, it said there were two points that was said by the families of the SAF 44 : education concerns for the children of the slain SAF 44 and “justice”. we suppose that hearing the word “justice” from 44 families over 12 hours finally got it through Aquino.

Aquino holds 12-hour dialogue with heroes’ kin

The quest for justice for their slain loved ones and ensuring the education of the children they left behind were the primary concerns of the families of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos who perished in the police operation against an international terrorist in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao province, a week ago.

—-

Common refrain: Justice

Although they did not ask for the specific details of the operation to get Marwan and local terrorist Basit Usman, Roxas said the families sought the President’s intervention in seeking justice for their slain loved ones.

“They asked for justice. They specifically mentioned the word ‘justice,’” he said. “There were one or two of them who questioned the need for the peace process.”

during the 12+ hour meeting of Aquino with the slain SAF families, through twitter, we wondered and wished that there will be a policy change from Aquino’s standpoint on the slain SAF 44. we assumed that the point of having one-on-one meetings with the families had at last two main objectives : (1) for Aquino to express his personal condolence to the families and (2) for him to hear exactly what the sentiments of the families are.

knowing what the sentiments are will enable the government to retool its efforts and policies towards the SAF families and the whole event. i thought it was a great effort and the right thing to do. there is nothing better than the president himself talking face to face with the families. while we saw the meetings as admirable and the right thing to do, we were not sure if it will get the right result from the meeting. after all, noynoy aquino, the president of the country is known to have a very thick head (dense), is totally stubborn and often very confused about things.

I hope Aquino spending 12+ hrs w #SAF44 will result to policy & plan changes to govt stand & plans on the issue.

we are happy that aquino finally got it. we should thank the families of the 44 SAF families that they told Aquino exactly what was on their minds. while we kinda celebrate this, it worries us that for anything to get through to Aquino, it will need 12+ hours of non stop talking. but that point will be for another post.

we are trying very hard not to take anything away from this. we congratulate Aquino for this turn around. let us hope that these will not be just words, that Aquino will show he truly gets it with concrete action.

this is really a great promo. it is very creative and a perfect match to the advertising brand sell campaign of McDonald’s. it is rare to see promos that work so perfectly well with brand sell advertising.

McDonald’s has been running the “loving it” campaign in the US. in this promo, some customers will be chosen to pay for their McDonald’s orders with “acts of love” rather than money, acts of love like calling your mother to tell her you love her or a family told to do a group hug. they will air this promo TV ad at the upcoming Super Bowl 2015 this weekend in the US.

we are all impressed and we do appreciate the dedication and job well done of all military, police, emergency, MMDA, barangay and other government agency personnel who were on duty and gallantly served during the Pope Francis Philippine visit.

we are all proud and thankful for their successful and excellent service.

we are petitioning the government to give each one of them at least a 1 month salary bonus in appreciation and recognition of a job well done.

if you agree with this and you want to give recognition to those who worked hard to protect, keep him safe and make sure everything goes well with Pope Francis and his visit to the country, retweet these:

let's make this trend: #1MonthBonus for all military, police, emergency, Barangay, MMDA & other personnel for #PopeFrancisPH congrats!

how great are the PHL government agency personnel, preparation and execution and the pinoys who went to the Luneta park event of Pope Francis? 6 to 7 million people attended the event and ZERO incident!

at UST where Pope Francis met with the youth, one of the speakers, 12 year old Gyzelle Palomar, one of the street children who stay at the Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation that take care of street children asked Pope Francis this profound and vastly troubling question : “Bakit po pumapayag ang Diyos na may ganitong nangyayari?” (Why is God allowing these things to happen?”.

before that she was talking about children getting into drugs and prostitution. she must have been so overcome by her words and what she has witnessed herself on the streets and possibly (and we hope not) her own experiences.

Girl breaks down before Pope

(UPDATED) Two street children tell their stories to Pope Francis at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, a law student wants to know how ‘to love,’ and a Typhoon Yolanda volunteer asks what more the youth can do

Weeping Philippine girl challenges pope on prostitution

MANILA (AFP) –

A weeping 12-year-old Philippine girl, asking how God could allow children to become prostitutes, moved Pope Francis on Sunday to hug her and appeal for everyone to show more compassion.

Glyzelle Palomar, a one-time homeless child taken in by a church charity, made her emotional plea during ceremonies at a Catholic university in Manila, ahead of a mass by the pope to millions of faithful.

“Many children are abandoned by their parents. Many children get involved in drugs and prostitution,” Palomar told the pope as she stood on stage alongside a 14-year-old boy who also used to be homeless.

“Why does God allow these things to happen to us? The children are not guilty of anything.”

Palomar broke down and wept profusely, prompting the 78-year-old pontiff with a man-of-the-people reputation to take her into his arms and hug her for a few seconds.

The pope later discarded most of his prepared speech that he was due to give in English, reverting back to his native Spanish to deliver an impromptu and heartfelt response.

“She is the only one who has put a question for which there is no answer and she wasn’t even able to express it in words but in tears,” the pope told a crowd that organisers said reached 30,000.

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